Disclaimer: I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.
AN: I know, it's been FOREVER. I've been so busy with school, but now that I'm on spring break, I'm going to try and write and much as possible. There's only a few chapters left. But I do have another story in the works. I can't wait to share it with all of you :) Again, a big thank you to those who continue to check for this story and continue to review!
Letty's big announcement to stay in Hawaii with her father rattled the Toretto household significantly. Vince, Mia, and Dom felt they had the right to act selfish, considering all the time they waited for her return. They missed their friend. Since her absence, their whole unit never quite felt complete, and they were all anxiously waiting to change that.
For the first month, it was Anthony taking Letty's phone calls. He constantly assured her that everyone would come to terms with her decision, and would be on speaking terms soon enough. Even though it felt like an eternity for Letty, Anthony was right, for the most part.
The beginning of the second month of school, Mia finally caved in. After spending a few hours at the garage, her father routinely dropped her off at home to start prepping for dinner. It was while she was chopping veggies that the phone rang. She briefly thought of ignoring it in case that it was Letty, but then said 'the hell with it' and answered.
She picked up the receiver and quickly asked, "Hello?"
"Mia!" an excited Letty yelled. She almost sounded relieved to finally hear someone else finally answer the phone. She adored Anthony and the conversation he offered when she called, but it paled in comparison to what she shared with her friends.
The small twinge of bitterness that Mia was still holding onto was telling her to just hang up the phone, but the tone in Letty's voice stopped her.
"Hey," Mia said dismissively.
"It seems like it's been forever since we last talked," Letty admitted.
"Yeah, and it's going to be even longer since we see you again," Mia pointed out, trying her best not to sound bitter.
Letty sighed heavily into the phone. "I'm sorry, Mia. I really do miss you all. I can't wait to see everyone and hang out like we used."
"You have a funny way of showing it by staying longer."
"Please understand, Mia." Letty pleaded. She hated hearing this side her. "I haven't seen my dad in a really long time. We're catching up and it's great. Of all people, I thought you would understand the most."
Both ends of the phone went quiet after that statement. Mia was analyzing the situation in her head and truly placed herself in Letty's shoes. What if the roles had been reverse? What if Anthony had joined the military and she barely saw her father? The act of empathy seemed to work, because just like that, Mia could no longer hold anything against her friend anymore.
Mia finally sighed into the phone, "I do understand, Letty. I just miss the hell out of you. And…sorry for ignoring your calls."
Letty smiled broadly and breathed a sigh of relief. She simply could not picture her life without any of the Torettos in it now. "Thanks, girl."
Now that everything seemed to be resolved between them, Mia brushed aside her prepping duties and took a seat on one of the stools.
"So, what's the eighth grade like over there? Still the same ole boys?" Mia asked curiously.
And that's all it took to get back into the swing of things. They talked for hours, catching up on the weeks they lost. Letty informed Mia about the work her and her dad have been putting into her car, how much more she's grown to love the beach, and how laid back school is. Mia informed Letty how it was pretty much the same ole boys and environment in junior high. She adamantly expressed to Letty that all the action and excitement had to be in High School. She even made Letty swear on every religious saint that she would be back to start high school with her. She also told Letty about Vince and Dom, and how they thought they were hot shit because they were no longer freshmen, but they still snuck out occasionally to see the latest modifications and trends in the street racing scene.
Their lengthy conversation finally ended when Mia heard her father's car pull into the driveway. She said goodbye to Letty and promised to start calling more often. After today, they both knew their usual routine would commence again. After finally getting up from the stool to put the receiver back on, she eyed the progress she had made since she got home. She quickly ran around the counter and continued chopping, but at a much faster pace.
Anthony walked into the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water and greeted his daughter. "Hey sweetie. How's prepping going?"
Mia bit her lip and chopped a little faster. "Uh, you know, it's going."
"You just about done?" he asked. He wanted to get started right away. Homemade raviolis took some time and he was relieved that he had such a willing helper around the house.
"Almost," she lied.
Anthony grabbed his apron and began tying it. "Good. Did you make the dough? Where is it at?"
Shit! Mia mentally cursed herself. "I didn't get around to it yet," she confessed.
Her father gave her a confused looked as he looked up at the clock hanging in the kitchen. "You've had hours, Mia. What happened?"
Mia looked at her father with a guilty face. "I got caught up in a phone conversation with Letty."
Anthony sighed and was just about to lecture her about committing to what you sign up for, but when he heard that it was with Letty, he refrained. He leaned against the counter and smiled. "So you too finally made up, huh?"
Mia returned a broad smile. "Yeah, she's like my sister."
Anthony was relieved they made up, now the boys just needed to come around. "Good. Letty's a good girl and no sense in ending a good friendship over something so silly."
"I know dad, and I'll talk to Vince and Dom about it too."
Anthony nodded," Good. Now, let's see what the heck we're going to make for dinner now."
The two settled for spaghetti and meatballs, even though Anthony got to make his own homemade sauce, it killed him to have to you use store bought pasta. Either way, both father and daughter finished just as Dom and Vince walked into the door.
"What's up everybody," Vince greeted.
"Hey pop, Mia, I brought over a guest," Dom announced.
Both Mia and her father looked at each other, as though they were not surprised. For the past two weeks, Dom had occasionally been bringing a few different girls home from school. It was as though this school year, he made a point to turn into a real Casanova.
Anthony went to the dinner area first, taking the big bowl of spaghetti and meat balls to the table.
"Smells real good, pop," Dom said as he took of whiff of the steams coming from the plate. He and his 'friend' were already seated at the table.
His father ignored his comment and stuck out his hand to introduce himself to their guest. Even though he was sure he would never see this girl again, she was still a guest and deserved to be treated with respect. "Excuse my rude son, I'm Anthony, his father. And you are?"
The petite brunette smiled sweetly as she shook Anthony's hand, "I'm Janelle. It's so nice to me."
"Likewise. I hope you like spaghetti."
"I do," she answered politely. "It smells delicious."
Mia came into the dining room next, just as Vince took his usual seat. As she set down a basket full of homemade garlic cheese bread, she rolled her eyes at her brother and the fact that he used family dinners as his dates. She took a seat beside Vince and adjacent from her father and greeted Dom's date.
"Oh, hi Julie," Mia greeted with a huge fake smile. "Nice to see you back again. I see you can't enough of our father's cooking."
Vince fought back his laughter, Anthony closed his eyes for a moment and sighed because he knew what was coming, and Dom's eyes went wide in shock. He couldn't believe his sister just did that. His jaw tensed and he quickly addressed his sister.
"Mia, this is Janelle," Dom tersely corrected.
Mia played dumb and acted as though she felt bad, "Oh, I'm so, so sorry. Julie was from the other day. You two look so alike."
Dom wanted to throw his plate at his sister. He felt like he was at school and one of his friends was cock blocking. He couldn't believe this was happening. His sister was so going to pay. But, before the two siblings could go at each other's throats, Anthony quickly suggested praying. He kept it short by quickly thanking God for great family, friends, and food before everyone served themselves.
The first couple of minutes were tense, with Mia and Dom menacingly eyeing each other as shoved spaghetti and garlic bread in the mouth. Everyone just watched them silently, waiting for one or the other to initiate something, but it never came. Finally, Anthony broke the silence, and spoke to their guest, asking typical 'get-to-know-your-guest-questions'. When he finally ran out of questions Mia finally informed them about Letty.
"I finally talked to Letty today," Mia declared to Vince and Dom.
Dom stopped chewing, considered her words, and ignored them before averting his attention back to his plate. Vince, on the other hand, gave in and asked. "How is she?"
Mia glared at her brother briefly before answering Vince. "Good. She and her dad are constantly making little adjustments to her car. She says she's gotten a lot better at driving now that she's grown some more."
Everyone laughed at the last bit, except Dom. Mia decided to tune her brother's physical presence out and continued. She informed them all of the little trips her and her dad have taken, how school was going for herl\, and how she misses everyone. Dom tried his best to ignore his sister's voice but it kept penetrating every barrier he tried to put up. Finally he threw his fork on his plate, catching everyone by surprise. They all looked at him confused.
He annoyingly sighed. "Damn Mia, can you shut up about her already."
"Dominic, watch your mouth," Anthony barked at him.
"Sorry dad, but it's really annoying, and quite frankly a waste of breath," he angrily expressed.
Mia gasped; she couldn't believe he just said talking about Letty was a waste.
Anthony rose from his chair, ready to knock some sense into his son. "You're walking on thin ice now, boy. Letty is your friend! It's not like she's never coming back."
Dom scoffed. "Sorry, but my real friends stick around. Sorry for being blunt, but I only focus on those in the present."
Before Anthony could unleash his wrath upon him, Dom grabbed his 'date's' hand and made a quick getaway, leaving everyone to finish their meal talking about Letty. It was clear that he was still upset with her. He decided he wasn't going to spend the rest of the school year anxiously waiting for nothing. He refused to allow himself to build up all that excitement for her return again, only for there to be a possibility of it all being knocked down again. He forced his mind to believe that Letty was replaceable.
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After the big blow up at dinner, Dom stopped bringing girls around the house and opted to taking them to a friend's house. He didn't always sleep with them; sometimes he just made out with them while watching a movie, but unfortunately lied to his friends that he did. Most of the girls went along with it, Dom was extremely popular for being only a sophomore and a lot of it had to do with the constant appearance with Phillip's crew. Although, Dom couldn't wait to start participating in the race scene and most of all win. Recently, Phillip had been taking Vince, Hector, and Dom out in deserted areas to let them drive fast, race, etc. They applied what they learned from Phillip to their sessions with Anthony and got better. Now all Dom felt was that he needed his own car, but he wasn't sure when that would happen—especially with the recent stunt he pulled at dinner.
Months passed and Dom ignored the fact that conversations about Letty returned. He wasn't particularly happy that Vince followed suit with Mia and routinely started having weekly phone conversations with Letty. He teased him, calling him a girl, and choosing to have girl talk over his bros. Vince brushed it off though, he knew how Dom really felt and knew not to bring up Letty around him. He figured he would eventually come around.
However, it turned out they were all wrong. Dom went throughout the whole school year ignoring little tid bits about Letty's life in Hawaii. He avoided answering the telephone, didn't even glance at the pictures she sent that made there to the fridge, or read any of the letters she sent. While Letty was hurt by his actions, she wasn't going to dwell on them. It was typical for him to act childish and figured, if it was still worth it, she would straighten him out in person. He continued his casanova act and acted completely nonchalant the night Mia announced Letty would be returning within the first few days of summer break.
"Big deal," he bitterly stated. "I won't be here; I got plans at the beach." Plans which he kept.
The morning of Letty's big arrival Dom woke early and made his way to his friend David's house. Another 'bro' he met along the way through high school. They had plans to meet up with other classmates to mess around at the beach, play football, swim, etc, something to do to kick off the summer. Dom wanted to keep himself extremely occupied on this very day, which he did, until late afternoon when Vince finally joined him.
"Finally finished with your girly reunion," Dom teased.
"You're the one that's been pms'ing all year long, who's the real one acting like a female?" Vince shot back.
"Whatever," was all Dom's reply before they made their way to a nearby burger stand. They got their food and sat at one of the many wood tables that loitered right next to the beach. They ate in silence as they took in the scene at the beach, letting their snide comments toward each other fade away.
When they finished and gathered their trash to throw it away, Dom caught sight of what he thought was the sweetest ass he'd seen in awhile. Her back was to him, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her and the way her smooth honey skin was radiating from the sun's rays. He was glad she was talking to Hector; it would make it easier to start a conversation with her. Dom quickly dumped his trash and jogged over to them, and Vince trailed behind, smirking maliciously.
Dom approached from behind and boldly yet seductively stated, "Nice bikini."
The girl snorted as she spun around to face him. The color immediately drained from Dom's face. He couldn't believe who the body he was drooling over belonged to. His stomach started doing flips and he was unsure on how to proceed. Letty had changed significantly at the age of 15. Her was a lot longer, but still wavy. Her skin complexion looked so caramelized, it looked good enough to eat, and she definitely filled out in other places. He was dumbstruck. Vince came up laughing hysterically. He knew who it was that Dom was eyeing, having seen her that morning. He simply couldn't resist letting Dom continue with his course of action, and the expression he was wearing was well worth it.